vdogg, on Apr 5 2007, 02:37 PM, said:
Sadly, this guy has a slight point. What are the amenities that truly attract people, especially young people, to this area? What can we do to increase our areas attractiveness to outsiders?
I was listening to some podcasts... and I seriously think that the reason our area lacks the young crowd, and the hi tech crowd... is it's too right wing Christian. You have the bible beaters, and you have the Bush people. Even today, even with all the idiocy, I still see vehicles travelling around with Bush Cheny stickers. I'm not saying they don't exist in other metro areas, but I think this region isn't progressive enough. It's part redneck, part navy, part ghetto.
My friend came back to town to show his kid to his and his wife's family. We decided to go out somewhere nice, and decided to hit Todd Jurichs Bistro. They treated us badly. According to the online reviews, their service sucks for everyone... but I happen to wonder if it wasn't because we were mostly young. We dressed appropriately, althogh our friend was wearing a nice tshirt... The service was horrible. Do they treat the old obese "rich" people this way? When we go to Vegas (like I will be again in August), we have no qualms with dropping $800+ on a meal for 5-6 of us. We aren't going to stiff them on tips. We had a good waiter at (Smith and Wolenskis or Mortons). She got a $160 tip that night. But that was Vegas. Welcome to Hampton Roads.
What you have, is your old money. They run the place. They own everything. The only thing they want from young people is all of their money. And it's going to bite them in the ass. You can't be too greedy. I think I'm going to start my own set of rant videos to submit to Pilot Online's HamptonRoads.TV. I've got plenty to say.
Everyone has this idea that by forming a tech incubator, magic things will happen. I have news for them though, it takes a certain kind of people to make it happen. And this region isn't friendly to them. EVERY area has a tech incubator. I have friends in Galax and Independence Virginia. They got one. Blackburg. They got one. DCs got em, Richmond's got em. Ours keeps sending me emails night after night begging me to register for tech nite, so I can see the tech stars. Or something. No thanks. I've been to their get togethers. I didn't fit in. The people I saw, they didn't seem tech to me. I know some of them from previous jobs. They aren't tech.
I'm not sure how to make it happen. We've had very limited success stories. GreatBridge.Com failed, but they elected a guy to run it that killed another company. Why they did this, I'm not sure. "Oh hey, you broke that company, come break this one." Friends that worked there talked to me, and I made suggestions, and they said mgmt wouldn't listen. OOP.COM sold out, to a company outside of our country. So I guess that could be a success story, as someone got rich as all the others lost their jobs.
In California, when the companies do well, the employees share in on this wealth. The wealth is huge. My friend who moved to cali, that came with us to Todd Jurichs crappy service Bistro... he did pretty well. This wealth gives them the ability to start more companies, or invest. Perhaps it's because the companies do better out there, but you don't have too mcuh of that here. The rap guys do it a little, fatburger is an example of this. Plus most of the old people here just don't get it.
A friend introduced me to a couple that own a Kareoke bar. I was interested in partnering with them, in an advertising idea. I wanted to test something, which would have given them lots of attention as well as me. Basically, I wanted to take my truck, with it's video screen, use an EVDO connection to broadcast live video from the bar to the truck via the internet, and roll around advertising their venue in front of all of the people at the oceanfront, and Granby street. Text overlays, this is what you are missing NOW. All I asked of them was for them to pick up the cost of the EVDO service for a month or two. Like $160. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY DOLLARS OR SO. THAT WAS IT. And they were like well we don't think bla bla bla. ARE YOU STUPID! IT COSTS $900 for a crappy, small, advertisement in the Portfolio, and most of those sit in a heap until chucked in the trash. It was just another one of many.
I had designed a system that allowed local musicians to plug in when and where they are playing into my HRConnect website. I developed code that ran on recycled computers, and those could be located along with LED sign boards at various venues around Hampton Roads. I was willing to make a deal with the music stores that if they would host a sign, I'd give them advertising on the website. The stuff was fully developed. It would have helped the musicans. It would have helped the venues. It would have helped the music stores. Would any store agree to it?! NOOOO. Delays, no one would answer. I was willing to eat the costs to do something new and cool. BUT DO I GET SUPPORT!? NO. DO I INNOVATE? YES. NOW DO YOU KNOW WHY I HATE HAMPTON ROADS?!
I help out for free with a conference in New York City at the famous Hotel Pennsylvania. The first year I did it, some guy who was working with ESPN came in and saw my stuff. He owned a bar in NYC. My friend who first met him (and helped) was sort of freaking out. This guy owned a bar that we had seen on the TV show called Late Night with Dave Attel, where he goes around to bars and stuff. The guy that owned the bar that he was at, came in, and gave me props for my stuff. Do you know what that was like? That was better than anything I've ever heard from anyone in this area at all. Period. They appreciate my stuff up there.
I tried to introduce free Wifi to the Norfolk Airport. Turned down. On my dime even. It would have been free to all visitors, and sponsored similiar to that of which came popular later in Hampton.
I don't think people like me, who innovate, will ever get far in this region. It is just too far behind. I've been practically BEGGING to demo a system to the event staff of Norfolk regarding the Christmas parade.
Christmas lights? Remember the people that did it and made the bud light commercial? We did it in 2000 and 2001 in Lake James neighborhood in Virginia Beach. They know. They remember in that hood. My idea, and some friends helped.
There are a few innovative people like me here, but we can barely afford to live now. And I work for one of the more prestegious places of the area.
When I was younger, we had a geek house. A bunch of friends and myself rented a nice house in Virginia Beach, for $1350 a month. Between us, it was doable. Friends would bring strangers by for tours, because the place was over the top. 5 racks full of servers and network equipment in the dining room. A 2000 pound robot arm in the garage. A home theater that was killer. A full PBX so you could call room to room. But then a friend I made on IRC tried to get me to join his company, but I was too scared. I didn't want to travel so much. But my friends did, and eventually ended up at ebay with a signing bonus years ago that is 1/3rd of my yearly salary today. Another friend relocated to North Carolina, and now works for the founder of RedHat. I decided I would stay, and start my own company. Not easy, and none of my friends had the marketing ideas or know how. Eventually the owner of the house wnated to change the rent from $1350/month to $2000/month. I decided to leave NASA because I needed a salary increase, but the market was going nuts. Now I pay nearly $1350/month for an okay apartment, run by rich a-holes, or at least someone who wants to act like Donald Trump. In the end, I'd say the biggest mistake of my life is staying in Hampton Roads. If I had left, when my friend had offered me a job, then I'd be able to buy a high end house here cash. My friend keeps saying he is going to return, since the cost of living is so low (compraed to where he lives now). And once you own a huge fleet of cars and a house outright, your monthly expenses aren't that much. But me? I'm pretty much burned out. HRConnect is sort of popular, but I've got racist posters that cause issues. They don't like what they see in the region, and express it in the wrong ways. Tired of the black on black crimes filling the news every night.
As for me, there is something in the works. I look it as my last real shot. If nothing happens, I will probably look to DC.
Salary in Hamptin Roads: $65K
Median house: $350K
Salary in Washington DC: $110-120K+
Median house: $440K
What is wrong with this picture?
Am I wrong? Feel free to point out my falacies.
I come up with innovative ideas, many of them business, every week. But just no time or effort these days to really work on them. So many other things didn't go anywhere that it sort of kills your spirit.
I just drove my truck to Raleigh, and had like 50 people all checking it out. Great feeling! They LOVED it! People had business suggestions if I move to Raleigh, and all this stuff. Then I come back to Hampton Roads, and get a letter today that since my truck ?Doesn't ever move? I've got to get it out of the parking lot by the 30th or they will tow it... even though it has a parking pass for the parking lot, and I pay nearly $1200 a month for my 2 bedroom apartment.... even though it's just me living here. mmm Hampton Roads.
2
I meant no harm or disrespect.
2010 can't get here soon enough, these estimates are almost always off for our region.
